Wholesaling merchandise simply involves selling products to retailers and other businesses.
As such, if you’re a small business or entrepreneur, this type of engagement can be rather lucrative. Ideally, you help other businesses avoid the hassle involved in inventory replenishment.
If you’re just starting out, it helps to get familiar with the specifics of this engagement. Essentially, you need to know how and where to source merchandise. It’s also important to create lasting relationships with your clients. This way, it will be easier for you to make money wholesaling products.
In this post, we’re going to share a guide to wholesaling the right way.
Let’s get right into it.
Identify the Right Products
Any seasoned wholesaler will admit that the right product matters in ensuring success.
So, the first step is to identify the right products to buy and resell. Don’t just pick a product because you think it will work. Also, avoid selling what everyone else is selling. Most importantly, don’t pick products that nobody whats.
You should identify products that many retailers want but the supply is low. This can be any product category, such as women shoes, auto accessories, pet supplies, handbags, laundry supplies, etc.
Of course, your ideal pick should be based on your market research. Consider brand when searching for the right products. Identifying the top-selling categories is an easy way to find the ideal products for wholesale.
Find Retailers and Businesses
You also need to research to identify your target customers and their needs. This will help you to determine stores that are likely to stock your products. Keep in mind that this process may involve interviewing your prospects.
You want to know what products they like. Give them a list of products you intend to wholesale. They can help you determine what products you need to prioritize.
You’ll need to pay a visit to all stores in your area. Check their shelves to see how your products will fit in. Or, identify the dominant products on their shelves.
Alternatively, you can focus on a particular niche or product, for example, winter apparels or women’s shoes. This helps you to narrow down to the specific stores that sell your products.
Find Wholesale Sellers
Well, now that you have some ideas on fast-moving products and what retailers want, you need to find the right sellers.
China seems to be the ideal go-to option for many wholesalers. However, you can avoid the hassle by using services that offer wholesale products. Contacting and reviewing overseas sellers can be somewhat hectic at the start.
Be sure to pick a service that has a variety of merchandise. With such services, you can choose from closeouts, which range from dollar store items to popular brand names. Buyers can enjoy off-price buying to ensure they gain maximum profits from their sale.
This allows you to focus on fulfilling your clients’ requests. You won’t need to spend the time to find sellers now and then.
Understand Retailers
If you want to make money wholesaling, it’s important to understand the purchasing habits of retailers. Determine when they’re likely to make new orders. Also, figure out their high seasons and low seasons based on their specific industries.
Strive to work with your clients. For a small store, you’ll typically work directly with the shop owner. When selling to chain stores, you’ll be given a dedicated contact person for their orders.
Whatever the case, it helps to understand their buying schedule. Also, identify how and where they buy their inventory. Some prefer to buy their inventory before the high season. You should be able to accommodate such schedules.
Other retailers may make urgent orders. In this case, renting a warehouse space or storage facility can help you fulfill such requests.
Watch the Competition
You need to keep in mind that retailers and businesses are likely to opt for wholesalers that offer the best B2B experience. Plus, there are wholesalers just like you outside there who are targeting the same customer pool.
What you need to do is to stand out from the competition. If it’s possible, create a website to showcase your service. Show your customer testimonials and other pieces of content to inform clients about you.
Network with potential clients through tradeshows and other events. The more people learn about your service, the better. If there are any competitors in your area, take the time to understand them to gain a competitive edge.
If there is something they’re performing better than you, try to figure out how they’re doing it.
Stay Up to Date on Industry Trends
As noted before, the B2B experience is constantly evolving. With new technologies and simplified processes, you need to ensure you’re staying abreast of the latest industry trends.
Your goal to make money wholesaling can be unattainable if your technologies are outdated. Making a one-time big sale doesn’t mean you have netted a particular client. Your clients can easily abandon you if the quality of your service deteriorates over time.
Attend webinars, conferences, and tradeshows to learn something new. Determine what tools your competitors are using for communication, marketing, and customer service.
You can also host webinars or focus groups to learn how you can improve your service. Also, simply asking for feedback and reviews from your clients can help.
Get Started to Make Money Wholesaling
You now know what you need to do to start wholesaling merchandise to retailers and stores. This post only scratched the surface of all the things you need to know. Even so, it has served as an excellent introduction to wholesaling.
Keep in mind that your goal to make money wholesaling can’t just happen overnight. You need to develop and cultivate trust with your clients. This way, they will know that they’ve got a person to rely on whenever they need new orders.
At BuyMerchant, we want to make things easier for you. Our platform offers bulk wholesale merchandise and closeout items to help you stock your inventory. You can order any volume as there’s is no order minimums.
If you’re interested in getting started, register on our platform and start browsing our product categories.